Game Rant recently got to take an deep dive into Mundaun, a hand-drawn survival horror game set in the Alps, by talking directly with the game's creator, Michel Ziegler. Mundaun stands out because of its haunting atmosphere, incredibly unique artstyle, and attention to detail—resulting in touches like every NPC speaking an obscure language known only to a few thousand people in the real world.
Games are only getting better at creating distinct tone, but Mundaun still manages to lay it on exceptionally thick. From the brief glances we've had, there are few other games that elicit such a keen sense of place and space, even while adopting a very stylized appearance. Since Ziegler himself is largely responsible for the mood of the game, we wanted to ask how he made it happen. First, though, we wondered why he chose to make a horror game set in an environment that is usually depicted as bright and beautiful.
The folk tales that were one of the biggest sources of inspiration when I started the project defined the atmosphere of Mundaun as dark and sinister. I didn’t really set out to create a game in the horror genre at all. I don’t think in genres or their conventions much; for me, bringing something unique to the table is the most important thing. The folklore inspiration combined with the aesthetics and atmosphere however do make Mundaun quite oppressive and dark. As the protagonist is a regular person facing against some adversaries that aren’t human, the gameplay does feel like a survival horror title at times. That feeling of being in over your head to me is an important aspect of a game of this kind.
That description is in line with what Ziegler has previously said about allowing the game to evolve naturally as he made it, but there must be more than that to creating such dense, palpable air in a game. We asked if he had advice for other creators on how to create effective character in their settings, or if there's something he thinks other developers should do when going about building atmosphere.
I think there’s many different ways to create atmosphere. For me, just a still image, an old photograph or drawing has the potential to create a very dense atmosphere. That mood is kind of what I try to emulate for Mundaun, but as an interactive game. Also just a combination of great or strange textures can unsettle. There’s many factors playing together. Music and sound are obviously key.
The unique textures are likely the main selling point of Mundaun. Hand drawn in pencil, the level of detail and organic depth conveyed in the game's textures injects a near-lethal dose of the human element into every visible character, environment and surface. Ziegler was not shy about claiming the penciled-in textures as one of the parts of the game he's most proud of:
The process of hand-drawing the textures and the resulting aesthetic are definitely very close to my heart. I’m happy about going with my instincts, choosing a unique scenario and being very consistent with it. Going as far as having the voice overs be in Rumantsch, a language spoken by relatively few people in the Swiss alps. Overall I’m satisfied with how distinct the end product turned out.
When asked for a personal favorite part of the game, though, its creator waxed a bit more romantic, saying, "I have favorite moments and corners in the game world. But what I think I enjoy most is just being in its world. There’s some peace and serenity to find between the more dark and dramatic moments."
Mundaun is set to release this spring for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.